Summaries

The last one! This week Rusul and I spent the early parts of the week recording our podcasts, and the majority of the week editing them. We used the DKC’s podcast studio to record our scripts, and then uploaded them to soundtrap, the same software we used for our radio show, so we both already know how to use it. We took Dr. Bond’s advice into account while editing, choosing to add common intro and outro music to make the 3 episodes connect more and present them as 1 overall piece, rather than 3 different works.

I really think this podcast series came together well. It demonstrates so many different themes we covered throughout the semester in each episode, starting with tech-noir movies, then privacy issues, and a more optimistic lens of AI. Splitting these topics up into segments rather than 1 long recap also makes it more enjoyable, not only for you the listener, but also for us. Not having to go through a ton of footage on one project end up saving more time for us when editing, and also keeps the attention of the listeners much better. Overall, I think this series was a good cap to gaining more skills in editing different types of media, which in this case was audio media.

Check our podcast series CyberTalks here on this subdomain: https://cybertalks.umwsites.net/

This week Rusul and I outlined our project and what we want to focus on leading up to recording our podcast series. Rusul took the liberty of creating a subdomain to host our podcast series, as a platform for our audience to gather and listen to the three episode special of CyberTalks. I worked on scripts, completing one and starting another, with goals of having all three done by early next week so we can record shortly after that. After the recording session, we plan to spend the rest of the time editing our episodes, using the same platform we used on the radio show, both having familiarity with it. I’m excited to record! And glad that Rusul and I have coordinated so well to make a solid plan of how we’re going about finishing up this class strong. Stay Tuned!

This week was mainly focused on making the trailer for our final project. I’m deciding to combine the trailer post and the summary for the week, so let’s discuss the trailer. Our final project is going to be a blog podcast series focusing on different tech themes, which also taking a bit of a more positive approach. It’s called Cyber Talks, and if you haven’t already watched the trailer embedded above, then you should. For production, we used Canva to be able to easily test how we want out video to be structured. Going through different styles in a matter of minutes proved to be a very time-effective method to find a style that works for what we want to do with the show. We ultimately decided on a glitchy, noir themes trailer, not that I think that would surprise anyone, to present our 3 episode special. The start of the trailer intentionally included a podcast studio to give the audience a sense of being in the studio with us while we record, a form of persuasion to make sure we get as much of a turnout of viewers as possible.

Per usual, here are the 3 daily creates I did this week.

This week I listened to Noir News the streamed on the ds106 radio channel. I ended up looking back on the discord conversation as well because at the time of the live broadcast I was unable to contribute to the chat. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed Noir News and it felt like an actual news broadcast to me. Starting off with a newscaster voice set the tone perfectly, and I think the focus on robots gave a cool futuristic but realistic take on what future news stories could look like. The commercials had new sounds layering going on to not seem too plain, and having a well known brand commercial in Dunkin Donuts connected the show to our current world and helped find a futuristic/realistic balance within the show.

This week I also did 3 daily creates, and will post them below, per usual.

It has been filmed! This week me and my group made and edited our final script, focused on a central theme of dating in a more digitalized age with dating apps and algorithms in control. We then used the Podcast Studio in the Digital Knowledge Center to film our base radio show, recording 4 scenes to split up later in the editing process. The recording was pretty straightforward, but editing was a bit more challenging. We used soundtrap, which is a program I have never used before, but enjoyed testing and exploring. Trying to find the right times to layer sounds in the background and not disrupt the flow of the conversation. Finding all of the right timings and cutting clips when needed and easing into bumpers and commercials made for a time-consuming editing process, but I’m glad the experience is under my belt now. The finished product can be found here on SoundCloud!

You know the drill. Here are my 2 daily creates for the week:

This week was a good start to our radio show project, the first of the bigger projects of the class. Talking to my group went pretty smooth, communicating over discord and settling on a concept for our show and a plan for how to execute that concept. We made an outline and script for our show, making room for commercials and bumpers. This week I also created a promo poster for our show, as well as 2 audio assignments. I used those assignments to create an Aquaphor commercial for the show, using audacity to layer sounds to give additional effects. For my second audio assignment, I used audacity again to create a transition between clips to have something different than a bumper but similar enough that it would flit in. Using my time and effort to create these will help smoothen the process in creating the show come next week.

Outside of those assignments, I did my 3 daily creates this week which are listed under here as has become usual.

Daily Creates:

This week was a fairly low radar week compared to others. Coming back from spring break was a bit of a challenge to get reacclimated, but pushed on nonetheless. This week, I reached out in the discord and figured out a group to do the upcoming radio show project, and started to coordinate ideas with them regarding our plans for the show (tune in soon!!). Besides that, did the usual for the week and commented on my classmates different posts, and did 3 daily creates, of which will be included below as always.

Daily Creates

This week I used Canva a lot to create media to represent how I would format a movie scene into a news article, and to create my own propaganda that connects to Eric Little. Although these were 2 separate assignments, I thought it would be a cool idea to combine them into one, having both the new article and propaganda on the front page of this website’s newspaper, The Digital Canvas Times. For the movie scene, I used the nightclub scene from The Terminator, and used a sense of ambiguity behind the event to frame the shooting as a real event that was trying to be published as soon as possible even without having all of the information. Furthermore, the propaganda I put together had a prominent theme of structure that resonates well with Eric Little and his backstory as someone that’s only done what he is told. I also wanted to add different teasers such as identifying the conspiracy Eric is caught up in being an underground anarchy against the societal elites known as The Arrow, and adding a wanted poster of him in the bottom of the newspaper cover.

I also did the 3 daily creates this week which I will show below, as has become tradition.

This week was also focused on video media and video editing. I carefully chose and completed 3 Video Assignments from the assignment bank, those being: Advice to 16 Year Old Me, Signing Words, and Cold Winter Night. It was interesting and fun to create media using video because I also do it outside of the classroom for work related purposes. Shifting focus, however, was a good change of pace and creating different types through these assignments expanded my horizons. I also revisited my goals from the first week that I said I wanted to accomplish this semester, noting I’ve done so much more than I thought I would’ve without even being halfway through the semester. Lastly, I did 2 daily creates this week, which will be attached below.

Daily Creates:

Happy Valentine’s Day! My week was a very busy one, and I’m definitely glad it’s over with. This week was mainly spent watching the videos and learning about video editing and how crucial it is to a show or movie’s success, although most people don’t notice the specifics of it. It was really interesting to put that together towards the end of the week in my video essay and analyze a scene about potential downsides of a surveillance bee. I also did 2 Daily Creates which I enjoy doing just as a break from everything else.

Daily Creates:

This week was interesting, and I think the experience of delving into audio and the program Audacity has been helpful to my skillset overall. For the 2 audio assignments, I chose to create my own sound effect and whistle a song that was stuck in my head for over 3 weeks and now it’s back (that’s not an exaggeration sadly). I did a “gum bleeding” story using strictly sound effects (thanks Jim Groom for the great descriptive comment), and also made my radio bumper which I hope wasn’t too terrible. Using audacity took a bit of getting used to but I had slightly used it during my senior year of high school for my AP Spanish classes, although we were only recording conversations and responses rather than making media. Other than spending much of my screen time using audacity, brainstorming ideas for a radio show was a nice refresher to use my brain in a different way then messing around with 15 different audios, and so was taking the time to listen to Moon Graffiti and the infamous ds106 radio. I really liked the idea of Moon Graffiti and how it conveyed a completely alternative timeline to the Moon Landing using different sounds, layering of voices, and that big loud crash.

Overall, the weeks are definitely getting smoother as my skillset with media improves, and doing the Daily Creates (the 3 this week) are also a great way to look at things you wouldn’t normally notice or perceive a certain way.

My Daily Creates:

This week felt super long me. It dragged on for a while and felt never-ending, but that also helped me keep up with all of my work as I really get back into the swing of school after the long break. The 3 daily creates this week were fun, and I also enjoyed doing the 3 visual/design assignments for the week. This week I ended up choosing the Favorite Movie Quote, Destress & Color, and Shadow of A Doubt assignments. The Photoblitz was another really good way to look at my surrounding in a way I wouldn’t normally, and to also think quickly to fit in the 20 minute window (I got back to my computer after 23 minutes but those extra 3 minutes were traveling time). Furthermore, reviewing, commenting on, and voting for pieces I found well put together and cohesive was a great way to reflect on others’ work while also gaining some inspiration for the weeks ahead. Overall, the week felt a bit sluggish, but completing everything and taking time to reflect was very rewarding.

Daily Creates:

This week was a bit crazy for me. Had a lot going on it was definitely harder to keep up with everything but I know I’ll improve in the coming weeks. I liked the idea of doing the Daily Creates, just a short and fun way to express some creativity and getting to look at other people’s responses was fun as well. I also had fun designing my character, Eric Little, as an innocent victim and even using his last name to represent his knowledge of the dangerous outside world was cool to experiment with. Some issues I had this week was that I really wanted to fix my website URL to change the main page to have a cleaner and more organized subdomain structure. It may seem simple on the surface, but I ended up having to go down an entire rabbit hole into my File Directory to move a bunch of files around once I got the WordPress URL and Site URL changed. This was because after that initial change I wasn’t able to access my website and edit it because of the URL and wp admin shift. Nonetheless, I got it all figured out minus pulling out a few strands of hair stressing about it.

For the Assignment Bank, I chose to do an Audio Assignment, a Video Assignment, and a Visual Assignment, heard from Dr. Oblivion about my Film Review and updated it appropriately, and lastly read the Technopoly reading and consulted Dr. Oblivion about that as well.

The first week of Digital Storytelling was a bit of a review for me. I had taken DGST 101 three semesters ago and hadn’t touched or used WordPress since. Getting back into it took a bit of remembering, however, I had fun being able to create a new site to use and make my first few posts of the semester. The relearning process drove me crazy for a short amount of time before I figured things out, but getting used to Squarespace and having made a website there then coming back proved to pose a bit of difficulty. Other than that, the first week went well and wasn’t too hard and I’m excited to keep learning and expanding my knowledge of digital media creation.